MANDALAY, MYANMAR (PART I)
Mandalay is the second largest city in Myanmar, located near the center of the country. Part I of the Mandalay pics features the Mandalay Fortress and Royal Palace, while Part II features the rest of Mandalay (including Mandalay Hill).

The most prominent feature in Mandalay is its fortress, which occupies about a square mile in the heart of the city...









Note that this bridge across the moat is not accessible to foreigners (foreigners must use the moat on the opposite site of the fortress as the fortress is also a military base)...



Here is the Mandalay Royal Palace, built in the mid-1800s but was destroyed (and well as many of the surrounding buildings) in World War II. It was reconstructed in the 1990s.



Another pic...



Looking up at the tower (from another direction)--with ladders...



One of the palace thrones, complete with statues of King Mindon (who ruled Myanmar from 1853 to 1878) and Chief Queen Satkyardavi.



Hall of Victory inside the palace...



Very top of the palace...



View of Mandalay Hill in the background (with palace in the foreground)...



A view of the palace grounds (mostly reconstructed after destruction from WWII) from a tower...



Looking onto the deep red roofs of the buildings...



One can also see part of the skyline of Mandalay from the tower, but there was very bad haze that morning (cleared partially in the afternoon)...



Promenade Hall on the palace grounds...



Queen chief audience building...



Left audience hall...



Various buildings in the palace grounds with deep red roofs...



The roofs had detailed carvings...



A large tamarind tree (very common around the palace grounds--and in Myanmar as a whole)...



Southern entrance hall...



The Mandalay Fortress is a military base, which you could see parts of from the tower. Note that while pictures are allowed here, no picture taking was allowed while walking from the entrance of the fort until the palace grounds.



Military police on a motorcycle (with passenger)...



Looking outside the gate to the palace grounds into the military area...



A couple more pics of buildings on the grounds...







Go here for Part II of Mandalay.

All of the above pictures on this page were taken in February 2015 by Brandt Maxwell.

Return to the Myanmar/Singapore Pics Page